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Far in California’s Sierra Nevada, enormous glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away entirely by the beginning of the next century, leaving summits without glaciers for the first time in recorded human existence, recent studies has discovered.

Age-Old Origins of Sierra Nevada Glaciers

The range's ice sheets are more ancient than previously known, tracing back tens of thousands of years, with a few as ancient as the last ice age, according to a report released recently.

“Our pieced-together ice age record indicates that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since documented settlement of the Americas around twenty thousand years ago,” the study declares.

Global Threat to Glaciers

Glaciers around the world are at risk during the climate crisis. A study released in the month of May of this year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are doomed to melt because of climate warming. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the world is presently on course for, as many as 75% will vanish, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.

Throughout the American west, ice formations have diminished significantly since they were initially recorded in the late 19th century, according to the article.

Focus on Major Glaciers

The recent study focuses on several Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade ice sheets – that are among the largest and probably oldest in the range. Their durability amid climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the western region, the study notes.

Study Techniques and Results

Scientists examined recently exposed base rock around the ice formations and collected specimens to ascertain how long the area was blanketed by glacial ice. They found that the ice masses have enveloped swaths of the range for much longer than earlier believed – since before humans occupied North America.

California’s glaciers reached their peak extents as long ago as 30,000 years ago, the article’s authors wrote, and a particular of the glaciers experts studied is thought to have expanded 7,000 years ago, earlier than once thought. The disappearance of ice formations, for the first time in recorded history, demonstrates the profound effects of the climate change, a researcher of the investigation said.

Ecological and Representational Impact

“We’ll be the first to see the ice-free peaks,” said the study's lead researcher, the study’s lead author. “This has ecological ramifications for plants and animals. And it’s a symbolic loss. Climate change is very abstract, but these ice masses are tangible. They’re symbolic elements of the Western U.S..”